“He worked with some of the top associations in the country, so these were conventions that had thousands of people coming,” his daughter, Jennie Hamilton said.

“He brought so many people to San Antonio, probably tens of thousands. He loved the uniqueness of the city and the flavor of it; he just wanted to share that with everyone.”

Hamilton died March 16 of complications from quadruple bypass surgery. He was 90.

Before promoting San Antonio as a prime spot to hold conventions, he successfully ran Hamilton Swimming Pools, where he was tapped to construct a pool at the Governor's Mansion.

While running his business, Hamilton became active with the Association of Pool and Spa Professionals. This relationship spawned his career as a meeting planner and garnered him a reputation for being a top-notch negotiator.

“He was a heck of a negotiator. Well, actually, it really wasn't negotiations, it was more like it had to be Bob's way,” joked Michael Nash, citywide sales executive at Marriott International Inc. “He was very old-school, that's the way he did business, and he wasn't about to change for anyone.”

At 90, Hamilton was still traveling to dozens of major cities in hopes of securing future convention contracts.

Nash said Hamilton's long-running career is attributed to his ability to connect with clients.

“He loved interacting with people and telling stories,” Nash recalled. “He worked with just about every hotel in the world, and had friends in every different brand of hotel.”

Some of Hamilton's favorite stories involved his time serving during World War II with the Underwater Demolition Team-17, a predecessor to the Navy SEALs.

“He was extremely proud of the fact that he was one of the original Navy SEALs. If you ever spent more than 10 minutes with him, he was going to tell you about that,” Nash said.

And a favorite day at work for Hamilton was serving then-presidential nominee Ronald Reagan a piece of birthday cake at a national convention.

“He loved his work. It was a passion,” his wife, Loretta Hamilton said. “He always said when he retired it would be ‘because they dug a hole.'”